The end times in the New Testament
Please note: these Bible passages are here for comparison and history only. In Islam, proof comes from the Quran and sahih hadith. Reports taken from earlier scriptures (Isra'iliyyat) are not treated as proof.
3 passages found
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Summary
Sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Jesus is asked by his disciples: 'What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?' He details the birth pangs of the end: false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. He warns of severe persecution, love growing cold, and the gospel being preached in all the world. He points to Daniel's 'abomination of desolation' standing in the holy place, followed by unprecedented tribulation, celestial collapse, and the Son of Man descending with power and great glory on the clouds of heaven with a great trumpet sound.
Original text and meaning
μελλήσετε δὲ ἀκούειν πολέμους καὶ ἀκοὰς πολέμων· ὁρᾶτε μὴ θροεῖσθε· δεῖ γὰρ γενέσθαι, ἀλλ’ οὔπω ἐστὶν τὸ τέλος. ἐγερθήσεται γὰρ ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν, καὶ ἔσονται λιμοὶ καὶ σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους·
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.
Ὅταν οὖν ἴδητε τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ Δανιὴλ τοῦ προφήτου ἑστὸς ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ, ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω,
When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)...
καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν οὐρανῷ... καὶ ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης πολλῆς·
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven... and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Close parallels in Islam
The Olivet Discourse shares striking parallels with authentic hadiths regarding the Signs of the Hour: the appearance of nearly thirty false claimants to prophethood (Dajjals) before the Hour (Sahih al-Bukhari 7121), the increase in widespread earthquakes (Zalazil) and bloodshed (Harj) (Bukhari 1036), the decline of trust and sincerity, and the physical descent of 'Isa ibn Maryam with two angels from heaven (Sahih Muslim 2937).
Background
Spoken on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple Mount around 30-33 AD. Within one generation (70 AD), the Roman legions under Titus destroyed the Second Temple. Christian dispensationalists believe the passage also points to a future Third Temple where the Antichrist will commit the final abomination.
Summary
Paul insists to the Thessalonians that the Day of the Lord cannot occur until the great apostasy takes place and the 'Man of Lawlessness' (Son of Destruction) is unveiled. This arch-deceiver opposes and exalts himself above every god or object of worship, going so far as to take his seat in the Temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God. He performs counterfeit miracles and deceptive signs under Satan's power, until the Lord Jesus slays him with the breath of his mouth and annihilates him by the splendor of his coming.
Original text and meaning
μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον· ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἔστιν θεός.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.
καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ,
Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming.
Close parallels in Islam
This is the most precise New Testament description of Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the False Messiah / Antichrist). Authentic hadiths explicitly confirm that Dajjal will proclaim divinity ('I am your lord'), display deceptive satanic miracles, and gather followers around Bayt al-Maqdis. When Prophet 'Isa confronts him at the Gate of Ludd (Lod), the hadith states: 'When the enemy of Allah (Dajjal) sees him, he will dissolve just as salt dissolves in water... and 'Isa will strike him with his spear' (Sahih Muslim 2897). The 'breath of his mouth' slays unbelievers as far as his eye can reach (Muslim 2937).
Background
This chapter is the primary Christian scriptural basis for the belief that a physical 'Third Temple' must be constructed in Jerusalem before the End Times, because the Man of Lawlessness must 'take his seat in the temple of God.' Modern Christian Zionists and dispensationalists closely track efforts to rebuild the Temple on Mount Moriah for this reason.
Summary
John writes to believers: 'Little children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. By this we know that it is the last hour.' He defines the Antichrist as anyone who denies the Father and the Son, or denies that Jesus has come in the flesh.
Original text and meaning
Παιδία, ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν, καὶ καθὼς ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἀντίχριστος ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν· ὅθεν γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν.
Little children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the last hour.
Close parallels in Islam
This is the unique biblical text where the actual Greek compound word 'Antichristos' (ἀντίχριστος) appears. In Islam, the Prophet ﷺ warned that every prophet warned his people about the Dajjal, and that approximately thirty minor Dajjals (liars claiming divine mission) would appear before the supreme False Messiah arrives (Sahih al-Bukhari 7121).
Background
Written around 85-95 AD to counter early Gnostic heresies that denied the physical reality of Jesus' life and death.
Summary
The sixth angel blows his trumpet, and a voice from the golden altar commands: 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!' These four angels, prepared for the specific hour, day, month, and year, are unleashed to slaughter one third of mankind with an apocalyptic cavalry of 200 million horsemen with breastplates of fire, smoke, and sulfur.
Original text and meaning
λέγοντα τῷ ἕκτῳ ἀγγέλῳ, ὁ ἔχων τὴν σάλπιγγα· Λῦσον τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀγγέλους τοὺς δεδεμένους ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ Εὐφράτῃ. καὶ ἐλύθησαν οἱ τέσσαρες ἄγγελοι οἱ ἡτοιμασμένοι εἰς τὴν ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτόν, ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσιν τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!' So the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they might kill one third of mankind.
Close parallels in Islam
The River Euphrates (*Nahr al-Furat*) is singled out in both Islamic hadith and biblical prophecy as the geographic epicenter of catastrophic global death. Sahih al-Bukhari (7119) and Sahih Muslim (2894) record: 'The Hour will not come until the river Euphrates recedes to unveil a mountain of gold, over which people will fight. Out of every hundred, ninety-nine will be killed.'
Background
In antiquity, the Euphrates was the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, beyond which lay the Parthian cavalry hordes.
Summary
John is commanded to measure the Temple of God, the altar, and its worshipers, while leaving out the outer court to be trampled by the nations for forty-two months. God empowers His Two Witnesses to prophesy in Jerusalem for 1,260 days in sackcloth, striking the earth with drought and plagues. The Beast from the abyss murders them, and their corpses lie in the street of the great city (Jerusalem) for three and a half days until God resurrects them to ascend into heaven in a cloud.
Original text and meaning
Καὶ ἐδόθη μοι κάλαμος ὅμοιος ῥάβδῳ, λέγων· Ἔγειρε καὶ μέτρησον τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας ἐν αὐτῷ. καὶ τὴν αὐλὴν τὴν ἔξωθεν τοῦ ναοῦ ἔκβαλε ἔξωθεν καὶ μὴ αὐτὴν μετρήσῃς, ὅτι ἐδόθη τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν πατήσουσιν μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα δύο.
A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, 'Rise and measure God's temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it. Leave out the court which is outside of the temple... for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.'
Close parallels in Islam
The focus on Jerusalem as the focal stage of the Beast's onslaught parallels the hadiths of Dajjal laying siege to Bayt al-Maqdis. The martyr who openly mocks the Dajjal in Sahih Muslim (2937), being sawn asunder and miraculously resurrected, mirrors the miraculous resurrection of the witnesses.
Background
Because Revelation was likely penned after the Romans razed Herod's Temple in 70 AD, many scholars and premillennialists view this measurement as confirming a physical Third Temple will stand in the End Times.
Summary
A blasphemous seven-headed beast arises out of the sea, given global dominion by the dragon (Satan) for forty-two months to persecute the saints. A second beast rises from the earth, performing deceptive wonders (even making fire fall from heaven) and coercing all humanity to take a mark on their right hand or forehead (666) to buy or sell.
Original text and meaning
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα καὶ βλασφημίας, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία ποιῆσαι μῆνας τεσσεράκοντα δύο.
There was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy, and he was given authority to make war for forty-two months.
ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν· ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου, ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν· καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ.
Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.
Close parallels in Islam
The first beast reflects the totalitarian blasphemy of the Dajjal. The second beast that emerges out of the earth (*Dabbah*) shares unmistakable resonance with the Islamic 'Beast of the Earth' (*Dabbat al-Ard*, Surah An-Naml 27:82) who marks the faces of believers and unbelievers.
Background
Through Hebrew gematria, 666 encodes 'Neron Caesar'. In modern dispensationalist theology, it represents the biometric identification and economic tracking system of the Antichrist.
Summary
The sixth angel empties his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, drying up its waters to pave the way for the kings of the East. Demonic spirits gather all world powers to battle at Armageddon (Megiddo in Palestine). Heaven opens, and Christ descends on a white horse, striking the nations with the sword of his mouth and casting the Beast into the lake of fire.
Original text and meaning
Καὶ ὁ ἕκτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν μέγαν τὸν Εὐφράτην· καὶ ἐξηράνθη τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἑτοιμασθῇ ἡ ὁδὸς τῶν βασιλέων τῶν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου.
The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.
καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν καλούμενον Ἑβραϊστὶ Ἁρμαγεδών.
They gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Close parallels in Islam
Both traditions converge on the drying of the Euphrates as a sign of global crisis, and on the plains of historical Sham/Palestine as the staging ground for the final cataclysmic battle (Al-Malhamah al-Kubra) where the False Messiah is vanquished.
Background
Armageddon derives from Hebrew 'Har Megiddo' (Mount Megiddo), the ancient fortress guarding the Jezreel Valley.
Summary
Satan is bound for a thousand years while Christ reigns with the resurrected martyrs. When the thousand years expire, Satan is loosed to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, marshaling an army vast as the sand of the sea. They surround the beloved city (Jerusalem), but divine fire descends from heaven and consumes them. The Great White Throne Judgment convenes, the books are opened, the dead are judged according to their works, and a New Jerusalem descends from heaven where death, mourning, and tears are eradicated forever.
Original text and meaning
Καὶ ὅταν τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη, λυθήσεται ὁ Σατανᾶς ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς, τὸν Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ, συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης. καὶ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκύκλευσαν τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην. καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς·
When the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.
καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἁγίαν Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡτοιμασμένην ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς.
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
Close parallels in Islam
The sequence follows the exact thematic contours of Islamic eschatology: 'Isa establishes justice and peace; Yajuj and Majuj emerge in uncontrollable numbers to surround the faithful at the sanctuary until divine intervention annihilates them; universal resurrection (*Al-Ba'th*) and judgment occur, leading to eternal paradise (*Jannah*).
Background
The climax of the Christian biblical canon, presenting the eternal dwelling of God with redeemed humanity in the New Jerusalem.
Summary
Jesus warns that the coming of the Son of Man will mirror the days of Noah and Lot: people were eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building, until the flood and fire suddenly fell and destroyed them all. In chapter 21, he foretells that when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, its desolation has come near; the inhabitants will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Cosmic signs in the sun, moon, and stars will cause men to faint from fear before the Son of Man comes in a cloud with power.
Original text and meaning
ὁμοίως καθὼς ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Λώτ· ἤσθιον, ἔπινον, ἠγόραζον, ἐπώλουν, ἐφύτευον, ᾠκοδόμουν... κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἔσται ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀποκαλύπτεται.
Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all. It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
καὶ πεσοῦνται στόματι μαχαίρης καὶ αἰχμαλωτισθήσονται εἰς τὰ ἔθνη πάντα, καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἔσται πατουμένη ὑπὸ ἐθνῶν, ἄχρι οὗ πληρωθῶσιν καιροὶ ἐθνῶν.
They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Close parallels in Islam
The suddenness of the Hour while people are occupied in ordinary commerce (selling cloth, drinking milk, plastering troughs) is identical to Sahih al-Bukhari 6506 and Sahih Muslim 2954. The surrounding and desolation of Jerusalem matches the end-times sequence in Sunan Abi Dawud 4294 ('the flourishing of Baitul Maqdis will be the ruin of Yathrib').
Background
Original Koine Greek. Crucial text bridging the 70 CE Roman destruction of the Second Temple and the cosmic return of Christ.
Summary
The Apostle Paul reveals the apocalyptic mystery of bodily resurrection: 'We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.' In 1 Thessalonians, he details that the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; the dead will rise first, and death will be swallowed up in victory.
Original text and meaning
ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω· πάντες οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα, πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα, ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι· σαλπίσει γάρ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα.
Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ, καταβήσεται ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον,
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Close parallels in Islam
Corresponds to the blowing of the Trumpet (Surah Az-Zumar 39:68: 'And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon... then it will be blown a second time, and behold, they will be standing, looking on'). The archangel's shout mirrors the call of Israfil.
Background
Earliest surviving Christian literature (1 Thessalonians, c. 50-51 CE), reflecting the urgent apocalyptic hope of bodily resurrection.
Summary
Paul describes the perilous times of the last days: people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without natural affection, slanderers, without self-control, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Peter warns that scoffers will mock: 'Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.' But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will dissolve with fervent heat, and the earth and works in it will be laid bare.
Original text and meaning
Τοῦτο δὲ γίνωσκε, ὅτι ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐνστήσονται καιροὶ χαλεποί. ἔσονται γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι φίλαυτοι, φιλάργυροι, ἀλαζόνες, ὑπερήφανοι, βλάσφημοι, γονεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς, ἀχάριστοι, ἀνόσιοι,
Know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Ἥξει δὲ ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης, ἐν ᾗ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται, στοιχεῖα δὲ καυσούμενα λυθήσεται, καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Close parallels in Islam
Disobedience to parents, love of wealth, and brazen moral decay match Sahih al-Bukhari 7121 and Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2211. Scoffers questioning the Hour is addressed in Surah An-Nazi'at (79:42: 'They ask you about the Hour: When is its arrival?'). The melting of celestial elements parallels Surah Al-Ma'arij (70:8: 'The Day the sky will be like molten copper').
Background
Koine Greek. Classical synthesis linking moral degeneration to the inevitable cosmic judgment.
Summary
The Lamb opens the first six seals of the cosmic scroll. Four horsemen gallop forth: a White Horse (conquest), a Red Horse (taking peace from the earth so men slay one another, universal slaughter), a Black Horse holding a pair of scales (famine where grain is weighed at exorbitant prices), and a Pale Horse named Death and Hades, given power over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. The sixth seal produces a colossal earthquake: the sun turns black as sackcloth of hair, the full moon becomes like blood, the stars fall to earth like ripe figs, and kings and generals hide in caves, crying: 'Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb!'
Original text and meaning
καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός, καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἵνα ἀλλήλους σφάξουσιν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη.
Another horse came out, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.
καὶ σεισμὸς μέγας ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὅλη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα, καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν... καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον,
There was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became like blood. The stars of the sky fell to the earth... The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up.
Close parallels in Islam
The Red Horse taking peace so people slay one another is identical to the end-times portents of 'Al-Harj' (widespread senseless killing, Sahih al-Bukhari 7061). The Black Horse with scales matches prophetic warnings of economic inflation and famines before Dajjal. The sixth seal earthquake and darkened celestial bodies match Surah Al-Infitar (82:1-2) and Surah Al-Hajj (22:1).
Background
Koine Greek. Iconic Western imagery of the Apocalypse that entered universal literature and art.
Summary
Silence fills heaven for half an hour as seven angels are given seven trumpets. At the first trumpet, hail and fire mingled with blood burn a third of the earth and trees. At the second, a great burning mountain is thrown into the sea, turning a third of it into blood. At the third trumpet, a great burning star named Wormwood falls onto the rivers and springs, poisoning the waters so many die. At the fourth trumpet, a third of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. An eagle flies through midheaven crying: 'Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining trumpets!'
Original text and meaning
καὶ ὁ τρίτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀστὴρ μέγας καιόμενος ὡς λαμπάς, καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν ποταμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων. καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἀστέρος λέγεται Ὁ Ἄψινθος. καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ τρίτον τῶν ὑδάτων εἰς ἄψινθον,
The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of water. The name of the star is called 'Wormwood.' One third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
Close parallels in Islam
Cosmic and ecological devastation before the final reckoning, stones/fire falling from the sky, waters turning bitter or drying up, and celestial bodies darkened, mirror hadiths of Qadhf (stones from heaven) and the cosmic disruptions preceding the Hour in the Qur'an.
Background
Koine Greek. The term 'Wormwood' (Apsinthos) entered modern cultural history during the Chernobyl disaster (as Chernobyl translates to mugwort/wormwood).
Summary
A great sign appears in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head, crying out in birth pangs. Another sign appears: an enormous red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems, whose tail sweeps a third of the stars of heaven to earth. The dragon stands before the woman to devour her child, but the child, destined to rule all nations with an iron scepter, is caught up to God. War breaks out in heaven: Michael and his angels fight against the dragon. The dragon (the ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world) is cast down to the earth, enraged because he knows his time is short.
Original text and meaning
Καὶ ἐγένετο πόλεμος ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Μιχαὴλ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ τοῦ πολεμῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ δράκοντος... καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς, ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν,
There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon... The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Close parallels in Islam
The cosmic enmity of Iblis (Satan) against humanity, his unceasing effort to deceive mankind from all four directions (Surah Al-A'raf 7:16-17), and the assistance of the Archangel Mika'il and the heavenly hosts against demonic forces.
Background
Koine Greek. The core mythological and apocalyptic imagery identifying the Antichristic power's source as the primeval dragon / serpent (Satan).